The most overlooked design issue…

With self-made logos being a popular choice when getting
started in business for yourself, there are a lot of things to take into
consideration; even with professionally made logos, there’s a lot to take in.

But there’s one area which seems to be forgotten in all of
this by a number of people.

Do you need/have a licence to use the fonts your logo contains?

If this has you answering I don’t know, or nah I just
downloaded it from the internet, or something similar; it’s worthwhile checking
out whether or not you do actually need a licence.

Even if you purchased your logo from a designer, it is worth
asking the question as to whether the fonts used needed a licence.

Now, you may be thinking but what’s the use of having a
licence? It’s available online, I’m a small business, that’s expensive to
purchase, etc. etc.

However, there are a couple of reasons why having a licence
when it comes to your fonts is can be worthwhile.

It’s someone’s creation.

That’s right. Someone created the font you want to use.
Creating a new type font isn’t an easy job either; as it takes time and
dedication to come up with something no one has created before. Just like an
artist takes time to create each individual piece of art work, creating a font
means creating all 26 letters in the alphabet more than once (capital and
lowercase), plus all the numbers and the special characters. That’s dedication
right there!

It signifies that there is an element of exclusivity behind it.

A number of fonts can be purchased for under $100. And a
large amount can be used for free (if you want to check if yours can be, Google
Fonts is a great tool). However, the higher the licence fee, the less likely it
is that someone else will have your font. Now, I’m not advocating that everyone
needs to splash out big money, but when it comes to branding sometimes exclusivity
can be worth a bit of cash. This is something you would need to decide whether
it’s right for you when it’s time to work on your branding.

It removes the risk of litigation for breach of copyright.

Just because it’s in Word, doesn’t mean it’s a free for all
when it comes to being used online or commercially. And depending on the
creators/copyright holders, some of them would have their lawyers searching for
breaches of copyright. Could you be able to afford going to court to fight a
copyright fine?

Let’s look at Helvetica as an example. It’s a common enough
font that most people will have heard the name.

Can you gain access to the font? Yes.

Does the font actually cost to purchase? Yes.

Can you gain free access to the font? Yes.

Is the font licenced? Yes. It actually has a Proprietary
licence and can’t be used for commercial use.

So what does that mean?

This means, that it is a worthwhile conversation to have
with your designer or your lawyer if you want to use the font in your design.

Did you know that in America breach of copyright even if
unintended can cost several thousand dollars? And if a person is found wilful in
that breach there could even be jail time and fines up to $150,000.

The important questions you should ask yourself are these:

Do I want that font?

Should I pay for that font?

And if the answer to that second question is no when there
is a licence fee associated with it, then you need to ask yourself one final
question.

How would I feel about someone using my work without paying
me for it?